My tire had a staple1 in it. Flat. And I was on a country road. The cell phone I bought isn’t in range to call anyone. “No Service” it says. No kidding!
Darkness begins to settle in. It’s becoming a bit difficult to see. I sat for a few minutes moaning2 and complaining, stepping out to struggle with the tire. Then a car pulls off the road behind me. In the blinding light I see a male figure approaching me.
“Hey, do you need any help?”
“Well, it certainly isn’t easy doing this with a white dress shirt and suit on,” I said. Then he steps into the light. I literally3 was frightened. This young guy was dressed in black. Nearly everything imaginable was pierced4 and tattooed5. His hair was cropped6 and poorly cut. He had leather bracelets7 on each wrist.
“How about I give you a hand?” he said.
“Well, I don’t know... I think I can...”
“Come on, it will only take me a few minutes.”
He took right over. While watching him I happened to look back at his car and noticed someone sitting in the passenger seat. That concerned me. I suddenly felt outnumbered8. Thoughts of robberies flashed through my mind.
Then, without warning, it began to pour. It hit like a waterfall and made it impossible to finish the tire change.
“Look, my friend, just stop what you’re doing. I appreciate all your help. You better get going. I’ll finish after the rain stops,” I said.
“Let me help you put your stuff back in the trunk9. It will get ruined,” he insisted. “Then get in my car. We’ll wait with you.”
“No, really. I’ll take care of everything,” I said.
“You can’t get in your car with the jack10 up like that. It will fall. Come on. Get in,” he said as he grabbed11 my arm and pulled me toward the car. Crack! Boom! Lightning and thunder roared12. I literally jumped in his car. “Oh, God, protect me!” I thought to myself.
Wet and tired I settled into the back seat. Suddenly a small frail13 voice came from the front seat of the car. “Are you all right?” she said as she turned around to face me.
“Yes, I am,” I replied with much relief seeing the old woman there. It must be his Mom.
“My name is Beatrice and this is my neighbor Joey,” she said. “He insisted on stopping when he saw you struggling with the tire.”
“I am grateful for his help,” I said.
“Me, too!” she said with a laugh. “Joey takes me to visit my husband. We had to place him in a nursing home and it’s about 30 minutes away from where I live. So, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we have a date.”
“Joey, that’s incredible14 what you do for her. I would never have guessed, well, ah, you know...” I stumbled15 with the words.
“I know. People who look like me don’t do nice things.” he said.
Silence. I really felt uncomfortable. I never believed that I judged people by the way they dressed. I was angry with myself for being so stupid.
“Joey is a great kid. I’m not the only one he helps. He’s a volunteer16 at our church. He also teaches the kids in the learning center at the low-income housing unit in our town,” said Beatrice.
“I’m a tutor.” Joey said quietly as he stared at my car. “I often experienced unfriendly reaction. I actually thought about changing the way I look. But then I saw it as an opportunity to see others.”
Silence again played a part now in a moment of reflection rather than the uncomfortable feeling that I had insulted someone. He was right. What he wore on the outside was a reflection of the world as he saw it. What he wore on the inside was the spirit of giving, caring and loving the world he wanted to see.
The rain stopped and Joey and I changed the tire. As we shook hands I apologized for my stupidity17.
轮胎扎到钉子了，爆胎！而我正在一条乡村公路上，手机又超出服务范围，无法与人联络。“不在服务区。”哦，简直开玩笑！
夜幕降临，四周开始变得模糊不清。我嘟囔抱怨了一会才走出来费劲儿地更换轮胎。这时一辆车停在我车后，透过炫目的光线，我看见一个男人的身影向我走来。
“嘿，需要帮忙吗？”
“嗯，穿着一套白色礼服当然不合适干这个了。”我说。他的身影浮现了出来，我感到心惊胆颤。这个小伙子一身黑装，能想象到的地方全穿着洞、刺着纹身，留着修剪得不好看的平头，两个手腕上都戴着皮革手链。
“要我帮你吗？”他问。
“呃，我不知道……我想我可以……”
“来吧，几分钟就行了。”
他居然反客为主。在观察他时，我不经意地回头望去，发现他的车里还坐着一个人。我的心一下悬了起来，感到敌众我寡，脑海里闪过被打劫的想法。
这时，天空毫无征兆地下起了倾盆大雨，雨像瀑布一样直泻下来，我们没法换胎。
“算了吧朋友，我非常感谢你的帮助，不过你还是走吧，等雨停了我自己换就行了。”我说。
“我帮你把东西都放到后箱，不然就全给淋坏了。”他执意要帮我，“进我车里坐坐，我们一起等。”
“不，真的不用了，我自己可以搞定。”我说。
“千斤顶这样放着你根本进不了车，会掉下来的！过来，进去！”他抓着我的胳膊，拽着我向他的车走去。轰！隆！电闪雷鸣。我实际上是窜进车里的。“喔，上帝保佑！”我暗暗祈祷。
我又湿又累地靠在后座上，突然一个微弱的声音从前座传来：“你还好吗？”她说着扭过头来看着我。
“呃，还好。”我看到是位老妇人，长嘘了一口气。这一定是她母亲吧。
“我叫比阿特丽斯，这是我邻居乔伊，”她说，“他看到你在捣鼓轮胎，坚持要停下来帮你。”
“我非常感谢他的帮助。”我说。
“我也是！”她笑着说，“乔伊带我去见我丈夫，我们把他安置在一个疗养院里，离我的住处大约有 30分钟的车程。我们每周一三五都去会面。”
“乔伊，你为她所做的真是出人意料，我一点都没想到，呃，你知道我……”我结巴起来。
“我明白，我这种长相的人可不干好事。”他说。
我默不做声，感到十分羞愧，没料到我自己也会以貌取人，我竟然这么愚蠢。我生起自己的气来。
“乔伊很了不起，他帮助的不止我一个。他是我们教堂的志愿者，他还在我们镇上贫困区学习中心为孩子们上课。” 比阿特丽斯说。
“我是辅导老师。”他望着我的车，语气平缓，“我常碰到不友善的对待，事实上我也想过改变自己的外表，不过后来我将这视为一种观察别人的机会。”
大家又一次默然无语，这会儿我正在反思，已经没有了刚才那种侮辱了别人后忐忑不安的感觉。他是对的。他的穿着体现出他对世界的看法，而他内心所表现的付出和关爱才是他希望看到的。
雨停了，乔伊和我换好车胎。握手告别时，我为自己的糊涂道了歉。
1. staple n. 钉
2. moan v. （口）悲叹，抱怨
3. literally adv. 确实地，真正地
4. pierce v. 穿（孔、洞）
5. tattoo v. （在人体上）刺花纹
6. crop v. 剪短
7. bracelet n. 手镯
8. outnumber v. 在数量上超过
9. trunk n. 行李箱
10. jack n. 千斤顶
11. grab v. 抓住
12. roar v. 轰鸣
13. frail [freil] adj. 虚弱的
14. incredible adj. 难以置信的
15. stumble v. 结结巴巴地说话
16. volunteer n. 志愿者
17. stupidity n. 愚蠢，蠢念头